Cause and Effect Essay - Factory Farms Cause Sickness and Pollution

Cause and Effect Essay - Factory Farms Cause illness and PollutionThere is little doubt that animals raised on small-scale diverse farms areapt to be healthier. When allowed to range freely, particularly inorganically maintained yards and pastures, they receive more exercise, theirdiet is more varied and they are exposed to commensal bacteria that helpexclude, and build resistance to, harmful pathogens. many organicpractitioners also argue that free-ranging animals actively seek out plantswith medicinal properties that can build their resistance to illness,When Livestock production is carried out on a scale that suitsthe global market, however, huge numbers of animals are kept in tightlyconfined conditions, and the potential for disease outbreaks is much higher..The important considerations of animal social welfare aside, these methods lead tothe rampant use of antibiotics, which poses a significant health risk, notonly for the livestock, but for consumers as well, since antibioti c residuescan remain in mall and milk. Roughly half the 25,000 tonnes of antibioticsproduced in the United States are used in the raising of animals for humanconsumption.There are other reasons for concern about the utilise ofantibiotics in giant livestock operations. Some 40 to 80 percent of theantibiotics used in farming are thought to be unnecessary even off under factoryconditions, as 80 percent of their use is as a preventative measure and forgrowth promotion. Overuse has already rendered some drugs ineffective andmay even make some strains of bacteria untreatable. According to the PublicHealth Laboratory Service in Britain, a new strain of salmonella that prime(prenominal)appeared in the United Kingdom in 1990 is re... ...rom practices all too common among industrial pigoperations transporting animals in contaminated vehicles and feeding themwaste diet containing infected meat.Problems like these are an inherent part of a nutrition system thatis so large that companies can increase their profits by millions of dollars only when by saving a few cents on each animals feed, or by using chemicals orprocessing methods that reduce be by a fraction of a percent.We all want safe, healthy food, but we cannot rely on the globalfood system to provide it. The bodily food chain has grown so long andthe distance between producers and consumers so vast that no one can reallyknow how their food was grown, how it was processed, and how it was treatedduring its long travels. Only by localising and reducing the scale of ourfood systems can we once again trust the food we eat.